As 32nd Indian Infantry Brigade, of 20th Indian Division, enter Monywa in central Burma, aircraft and mortars provide support and troops then clear the town's jail.

An Allied aircraft, possibly a Mosquito, attacking a target in the distance with smoke rising. More attacking aircraft. Indian troops in open ground; some are sitting up (to watch the aircraft?). A Sikh soldier watches an aircraft attack. Troops crossing open ground; one gets momentarily tangled in a wire fence. Indian 3-inch mortar battery in action. Indian troops, probably of 9th Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment, foreground with a smokescreen spreading a short distance away. Troops moving out onto open ground. Two British officers, probably Brigadier D A L Mackenzie and his adjutant, watching the advance; Mackenzie (?) has a slung Sten gun (with nonstandard foregrip?) which he appears to hurriedly unsling before changing his mind. The adjutant (?) makes a vigorous forward sweeping motion with his arm and steps forward out of shot. Troops in open ground. Profile shot of Mackenzie (?), looking through binoculars; he turns towards camera. Panning landscape shot with smoke in the distance. A signaller uses a wireless set in a ditch or long grass (unclear composition). Troops move along a track. Five troops in a line walk through the gates of a jail in Monywa. Soldier by broken wall. Looking through jail gates; troops move deeper inside. Pan of the exterior of the jail with infantry stood about, some keeping watch. Mortars going into action. Troops probing the ground for mines with bayonets. Close shot of bayonet used as probe. Infantry at the jail. More troops approach camera in double file along a road; an officer with pipe in his mouth (a photographer?) walks across shot. Reverse angle; troops walking away. A soldier looks at the firing slit of a Japanese bunker. Looking at a bunker. Long panning shot of Monywa showing a number of apparently quite substantial buildings in variously damaged condition.

Notes

Though not a particularly impressive piece of film in visual terms, this reel is a worthwhile record of the operation against Monywa. Particularly instructive when seen alongside ABY 95, which shows a traditional Burmese celebration at Monywa after the town's liberation from the Japanese.

See FUB 75 for combat film of the fall of Monywa by a British cameraman.

Series note: The MWY series of films is believed to be part of a ‘pool’ of film received by the Government of India from various sources, including South East Asia Command, the Indian Inter-Service Public Relations Directorate, the Ministry of Information, and from Allied governments. This footage would have been considered for editing and release through the Indian Newsreel Parade; see INR series.